Jewish Hospital to Live Stream and Live Tweet Heart Procedure from Hybrid Operating Room - Archived

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Barbara Mackovic, Senior Manager, Media Relations
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Jewish Hospital to Live Stream and Live Tweet
Heart Procedure from Hybrid Operating Room

Louisville, Ky. (March 30, 2015) – The heart valve team at Jewish Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health, will perform a Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) on April 2, 2015 at 10 a.m., which will be live streamed and tweeted for real-time updates throughout the duration of the procedure. 

The minimally invasive heart procedure will be performed in Jewish Hospital’s state-of-the-art hybrid operating room, which opened last year. 

University of Louisville Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Kendra Grubb, MD, and Interventional Cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine Michael Flaherty, MD, will perform the procedure, along with the Jewish Hospital Heart Valve team.

University of Louisville Cardiologist Lorrel Brown, MD, an experienced heart specialist, will provide updates on Twitter @kyone_health and answer questions using the hashtag #KY1HeartCare. Dr. Brown will not be an active participant in the surgery. All three doctors practice with UofL Physicians. 

TAVR is designed for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not well enough to undergo traditional open-heart surgery. Before the development of the TAVR procedure, patients with severe aortic stenosis who were considered too high risk for surgery could only be treated with medication and often had poor quality of life.

During the procedure, a cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon work together to implant the new heart valve, called the Edwards SAPIEN XT, through a small puncture in the groin. The procedure is usually performed using general anesthesia, but the Jewish Hospital Heart Valve Team uses conscious sedation, which allows for quicker recovery times and shortened hospital stays. 

For the patient, conscious sedation is like sleeping. They are not aware of their surroundings, but are breathing on their own; therefore a ventilator and breathing tube is not needed. 

“TAVR requires a true team approach and showcases how the heart valve team works together to achieve the very best outcomes for our patients,” said Dr. Grubb. “Being able to watch live and follow updates is a unique opportunity for everyone from medical students to the general public to learn about this innovative procedure and see inside the hybrid operating room.”

KentuckyOne Health Heart and Vascular Care’s first TAVR was performed at Jewish Hospital in 2011 as part of a clinical trial. The procedure is also performed at Saint Joseph Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health.

“We live in a world today where people want real-time answers and have the desire to know things as they happen,” said Joseph Gilene, president, Jewish Hospital and downtown market leader. “Jewish Hospital has long been a leader in heart care and this gives us the opportunity to share the incredible work that our physicians do every day.” 

To view the live stream from the hybrid operating room at Jewish Hospital, go to kentuckyonehealth.org/ky1heartcare.  For live updates, follow @kyone_health on Twitter or search the hashtag #KY1HeartCare.

About KentuckyOne Health

KentuckyOne Health, the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations including, hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.  The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.

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